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Canada
Sprint Weekend
FP13d 13h
Lando Norris says his route into McLaren began with winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in 2016, which earned him a day driving a Formula 1 car and a role as a paid simulator driver for the team. Norris said: "Joining McLaren all started with winning the BRDC award. The McLaren BRDC award then, which is one of the most prestigious awards in the UK. And I managed to win, and winning the award was driving a Formula 1 car for a day, and was also becoming a fully paid sim driver for McLaren."
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson said he hopes changes to Formula 1âs energy management requirements will reduce how much drivers have to focus on deployment so they can âbe flat outâ in races. Lawson said: "The car setup is important, and it will always be, but there is so much lap time in getting the energy management correct on each track. As the season goes on and we make changes, hopefully that is reduced, and we can be in a position to be flat out, but right now, it is a very big part of our focus. Through the weekend, as the track gets faster and faster, we start carrying more speeds through corners, and we're using more energy."
Lando Norris says he wants to âtry other thingsâ and has his eye on a future drive at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with McLaren set to enter the FIA World Endurance Championship and Le Mans from 2027. Norris said: "You know, I still feel like I want to go and try other things. Do Le Mans, now McLaren are doing Le Mans, so maybe go and do that at some point. But I don't know. I'm still young, so I've not thought of everything just yet."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes must keep a balanced perspective as it brings its first major upgrade package of the Formula 1 season to this weekendâs Canadian Grand Prix in MontrĂŠal. Wolff said: "We bring our first update package of the year to MontrĂŠal, but we know that performance is only performance once it is delivered on track. Despite being in the middle of May, we are just four races into the season. There is a long year ahead and, whilst this is an important weekend, it will not decide any outcomes."
Valtteri Bottas says Cadillacâs slow start to the season is âwhat I signed up forâ, with the team 10th in the standings after four races, and that its main weakness is in high-to-medium-speed corners. Bottas said: "There is no frustration, this is what I signed up for. Our weakness is high-to-medium speed corners, and Montreal is only low-to-medium speed, so hopefully, we will be closer there."
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says the teamâs upgrade package for the Canadian Grand Prix can put it back into the fight for top-10 finishes, with only one practice session on the Sprint weekend to evaluate the new parts. Komatsu said: "For us, we're looking forward to the weekend as we have an upgrade package coming. As it's a Sprint weekend, we'll only have FP1 to evaluate it, understand it and get the best out it. It's quite a lot to do, but that's what a lot of other teams did in Miami, so we're really up for the challenge. We're all looking forward to having this package to fight in the top ten."
Canadian Grand Prix organisers say Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is ready for this weekendâs Formula 1 race despite the event moving to 24 May, up to four weeks earlier than its usual June slot, and a long winter in Quebec that ran from mid-November to March. Event COO Brand and Strategy Sandrine Garneau said the earlier date meant construction had to begin in the autumn because âwithout having our build started in the fall and being able to start most of our scaffolding structures, it would have been very difficult for us to deliver this, given the winter that we had.â Garneau said extra crews, night work and weekend work were needed after freezing rain and prolonged cold, but that the schedule had now recovered. âIâm happy to say that, as of three or four days ago, that gap has been bridged, and weâre now in a very good position to be able to deliver an optimal site by Tuesday,â she said.
Toto Wolff says it is easier to rein in a âwildâ Kimi Antonelli than to try to make a slower driver quicker, after admitting he did not expect Antonelli to start the 2026 season with three wins in a row. Wolff said: "It is easier to calm someone down that is wild, because you won't be able to accelerate a donkey. For me, that [Miami] was his best race so far. It reminds me of his karting days, Formula 4, there were no mistakes... I expected a good start, but I have to admit three wins in a row were not something we had expected."
Carlos Sainz says Formula 1 still has âquite a way to goâ to address qualifying issues despite the regulation changes introduced at the Miami Grand Prix, but praised the FIAâs approach and called for further improvements. Sainz said: "I think for quali, there is still quite a way to go. I'm not going to criticise it anymore, I'm just going to try and be proactive to keep insisting that this is not good enough for F1. But it seems like at least the racing was a bit better. I'm happy with the steps they also took to bring the race forward, and I think the FIA this weekend, listening to the wet weather concerns with intermediate concerns, you cannot fault them."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team is encouraged by how its upgrade package performed in Miami, with further developments due to arrive for this weekendâs Canadian Grand Prix. Stella said: "It's a positive day, and it's positive news for McLaren, because it means that upgrades, they have worked well... So we are happy that we could have all the performance on the car. Like we have said already, we kept no secret. We will have some more stuff coming for Canada. So we are quite encouraged."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says George Russell will âreturnâ to strong form from this weekendâs Canadian Grand Prix. Wolff said: "What we love about this sport is that the clock never lies at the end of the race. The clock says Kimi has deservedly won the last three GPs. Russell hasn't done as well, in some cases due to team problems, bad luck, and in Miami due to his own mistakes. That said, we know George's value and we know he'll return, starting from Canada, very competitive and ready to make life difficult for his opponents."
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis says the ADUO system designed to help underperforming Formula 1 power unit manufacturers is not a âmagic bulletâ and will not act like a balance-of-performance mechanism. Tombazis said: "It's important to make clear that ADUO is not a kind of balance of performance mechanism. It is, in fact, a Cost Cap relief mechanism, where a PU manufacturer meeting ADUO criteria during a review period is given an opportunity to develop its engine through a downward adjustment. That's not to underestimate it but a manufacturer will still need to make the best engine in order to win. It's not a magic bullet."
Aston Martin has confirmed a new 2026 Formula 1 partnership with AQUAME, which becomes the teamâs exclusive water bottle supplier and will provide its hydration technology to track water intake in real time through an app with âpersonalised hydration insightsâ. The deal covers a range of five bottle designs intended to help keep the team hydrated through the 2026 season, with Aston Martinâs head of licencing and merchandise Matthew Chapman saying: âHydration is key to recovery and focus, so the collection has been designed to seamlessly fit into everyday life, combining premium aesthetics with smart, practical features.â
Ferrari Driver Academy member Rafael Câmara says the programme has "really helped" him in his career after the Brazilian completed his first Formula 1 test with Ferrari at the Hungaroring. Speaking to PlanetF1.com, Câmara said Ferrari had helped him "especially in the championships, how to prepare, the whole championship" and with "the mental side, physical". He added: "It's been a successful partnership. It's been a good few years in my single seater career, and hopefully I can let them be proud of the job we're doing together."
McLaren Racing has announced a multi-year partnership with British media and entertainment group Global, which joins both its Formula 1 team and its World Endurance Championship Hypercar project as an official race partner and official audio race partner. Global branding will appear on McLaren team radio headsets during F1 race-week activity at Monaco, Silverstone and other key European rounds, with Global Player branding also set to feature on selected weekends on headsets used by team personnel and drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Timo Glock has accepted his disqualification from the NĂźrburgring 24 Hours and the loss of his DMSB Permit Nordschleife after he was caught at 112kph in a 60kph slow zone just before midnight, which gave him a fourth penalty point and triggered a licence suspension. Glock said the punishment was deserved after an earlier offence six weeks ago, saying: "I only have myself to blame," and, "That hurts, but it has to be punished. It's the most dangerous racetrack in the world."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes âneed to respondâ to the progress made by their rivals in Miami, as he confirmed the team will bring its first upgrade package of the season to this weekendâs Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Wolff said: "Our competitors took a step forward in Miami and we need to respond; seven Grands Prix in 10 weekends before shutdown is an opportunity to do that and build momentum. We bring our first update package of the year to Montreal, but we know that performance is only performance once it is delivered on track."
Lando Norris says he was planning to do some driving in a Formula E car after attending last weekendâs Monaco E-Prix as a guest of the all-electric series. Norris said: "I was planning to do a bit of driving in a Formula E car at some point. I've spoken to Jake [Dennis] and a few of the other guys who've driven here. Not everything correlates between the two [Formula 1 and Formula E] but there are always things you can learn by speaking to and listening to drivers that are at the top of this category."
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